CN113366774A

CN113366774A - Terminal device and method

Info

Publication number: CN113366774A
Application number: CN201980089286.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 后藤淳悟; 久保康雄
Original assignee: Sony Group Corp
Current assignee: Sony Group Corp
Priority date: 2019-01-23
Filing date: 2019-01-23
Publication date: 2021-09-07
Also published as: US20220038192A1; WO2020152803A1; JP7322898B2; JPWO2020152803A1; EP3917041A1; EP3917041A4

Abstract

[ problem ] to provide a mechanism for realizing measurement for eliminating the influence of shading by a shade. [ solution ] A terminal device includes: one or more antenna modules; and a control unit that controls processing for changing a receivable direction of the antenna module while fixing a shielding state of the antenna module for measurement by a shield, and processing for measuring downlink communication quality in accordance with the change of the receivable direction of the antenna module for measurement.

Description

Terminal device and method

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a terminal device and method.

Background

The recent wireless communication environment faces the problem of exponential growth of data traffic. Therefore, attempts have been made to perform traffic dispersion and efficient utilization of radio resources by providing a large number of small cells within a macro cell to achieve higher network density. A technique that utilizes small cells in this manner is referred to as small cell enhancement. Note that the small cell is a concept that may include various types of cells (e.g., femto cell (femtocell), nano cell (nanocell), pico cell (picocell), and micro cell) that are smaller than the macro cell and are arranged at a position overlapping with the macro cell.

Further, as one of the radio resource extension measures, research has been conducted to achieve large-capacity communication such as 10 to 20Gbps for 5G by employing broadband transmission using a frequency band higher than that of 4G (LTE: long term evolution). However, propagation attenuation of radio waves increases in higher frequency bands. Therefore, the coverage area (communicable area) of the base station is narrower than that in the case of using the low frequency band. Also, the straightness of radio waves increases in a high frequency band. Therefore, the transmitting and receiving apparatus may be in an over-the-horizon (over-the-horizon) state due to the shielding of a shield such as a building, a person, and a vehicle. In this case, the communication quality (i.e., the radio wave propagation environment) may be greatly deteriorated. Therefore, it is assumed that a combination of the low frequency band and the high frequency band is used to achieve extremely high throughput in the coverage of the high frequency band while ensuring a wide coverage of the low frequency band. Note that it is desirable to use a high frequency band with a narrow coverage in a small cell smaller than the macro cell.

The use of beams (or beam patterns) to cancel the magnitude of propagation attenuation of radio waves in a high frequency band has also been studied. In order to select the best beam to be used in communication, beam scanning may be employed, which uses a plurality of available beams to transmit or receive measurement signals (known signals). The beam formed by the transmitting side is also referred to as a transmission beam, and the beam formed by the receiving side is also referred to as a reception beam. The optimal transmission beam is selected based on the measurement result of the measurement signal transmitted from the transmission side as the beam is scanned. This process is also referred to as transmit beam scanning. Further, the optimal reception beam is selected based on a measurement result obtained when the measurement signal is received by the reception side as the beam sweep. This process is also referred to as receive beam scanning. PTL 1 listed below discloses a technique associated with reception beam scanning, that is, a technique of sequentially setting antenna directivities in all directions in a horizontal plane of a portable terminal to measure reception levels in the respective directions.

CITATION LIST

Patent document

PTL 1

Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2002-135198

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

However, for example, the technique described in PTL 1 above does not take into consideration points at which the body of the user can become a mask. Propagation attenuation of radio waves increases particularly in a high frequency band. In this case, the measurement result in the case where a shield exists between the base station and the terminal device may be greatly different from the measurement result in the case where there is no shield therebetween.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a mechanism for enabling measurement of the shielding effect of a blanking object.

Means for solving the problems

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a terminal device including: one or more antenna modules; and a control unit that controls processing for changing a receivable direction of the antenna module while fixing a shielding state of the antenna module for measurement by a shield, and processing for measuring downlink communication quality in accordance with the change of the receivable direction of the antenna module for measurement.

Also, there is provided according to the present disclosure a method performed by a terminal device comprising one or more antenna modules. The method comprises the following steps: controlling a process for changing a receivable direction of the antenna module while fixing a shielding state of the antenna module for measurement by a shield, and a process for measuring downlink communication quality according to the change of the receivable direction of the antenna module for measurement.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the proposed technique.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the terminal device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of antenna modules in the terminal device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of first instruction information displayed by the terminal device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement result display screen displayed in the terminal device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the measurement process performed by the terminal device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of second instruction information displayed by the terminal device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of second instruction information displayed by the terminal device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that constituent elements having substantially the same functional configuration are given the same reference numerals in the present specification and the drawings to omit duplicated description.

Further, elements having substantially the same functional configuration in the specification and the drawings are distinguished by adding different alphabetical characters to the end of the same reference numeral in some cases. For example, a plurality of elements having substantially the same functional configuration are distinguished from one another as needed, such as the

terminal devices

200A, 200B, and 200C. However, in the case where it is not particularly necessary to distinguish between a plurality of elements having substantially the same functional configuration, only the same numerals are given. For example, in the case where no particular distinction is required between the

terminal apparatuses

200A, 200B, and 200C, these are simply referred to as the terminal apparatus 200.

Note that description will be made in the following order.

1. Introduction to

1.1 System configuration example

1.2 overview of the proposed technique

2. Example of configuration

2.1, functional configuration example

2.2 arrangement of antenna modules

3. Characteristic of the technology

3.1 frequency band

3.2 measurement processing

3.3 user support processing

4. Modifications of the invention

4.1, first modification

4.2 second modification

5. Hardware configuration example

6. Summary of the invention

<1, introduction >, and

<1.1, System configuration example >

Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the system 1 according to the present embodiment includes base stations 100(100A to 100C) and terminal apparatuses 200(200A to 200C).

Each base station 100 is a communication device that operates a cell 10 (one of 10A to 10C) and provides wireless service to one or more terminal devices 200 located within the cell 10. For example, the base station 100A provides a wireless service to the terminal apparatus 200A, the base station 100B provides a wireless service to the terminal apparatus 200B, and the base station 100C provides a wireless service to the terminal apparatus 200C. For example, each cell 10 may operate in accordance with any wireless communication system such as LTE (long term evolution), LTE-a (LTE-advanced), and 5G. In addition, it is assumed that 5G includes NR (new radio), NRAT (new radio access technology), and FEUTRA (further evolved universal terrestrial radio access).

The base station 100A is a macrocell base station that operates the macrocell 10A. The macrocell base station 100A is connected to the core network 20. The core network 20 is connected to a Packet Data Network (PDN)30 via a gateway device (not shown).

Base stations

100B and 100C are small cell base stations that operate

small cells

10B and 10C, respectively. Small

cell base stations

100B and 100C are connected to the macrocell base station 100A.

For example, the core network 20 may include an MME (mobility management entity), an S-GW (serving gateway), a P-GW (PDN gateway), a PCRF (policy and charging rules function), and an HSS (home subscriber server). Alternatively, the core network 20 may include 5G entities having functions similar to these functions. The MME is a control node that processes signals of the control plane, and manages the mobility state of the terminal device. The S-GW is a control node that processes a signal of a user plane, and functions as a gateway device that switches a transmission path of user data. The P-GW is a control node that processes signals of the user plane, and serves as a gateway device that becomes a connection point between the core network 20 and the PDN 30. The PCRF is a control node that controls policies and charges for QoS (quality of service) of bearers and the like. The HSS is a control node that processes subscriber data and controls services.

Each terminal apparatus 200 is a communication apparatus that wirelessly communicates with the base station 100 under the control of the base station 100. Each terminal device 200 may be a so-called user terminal (user equipment UE). For example, each terminal apparatus 200 transmits an uplink signal to the base station 100 and receives a downlink signal from the base station 100.

Note that, in the case where no distinction is required between these base stations, the macrocell base station 100 and the small cell base station 100 are hereinafter collectively referred to as base stations 100.

<1.2, summary of the proposed technology >

Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the proposed technique. As shown in fig. 2, the user holding the terminal apparatus 200 walks between the

base stations

100A and 100B. The

base stations

100A and 100B transmit

transmission beams

11A and 11B, respectively, to the terminal apparatus 200.

In the case depicted in the left part of fig. 2, the user points the terminal apparatus 200 toward the base station 100B and faces his or her back toward the base station 100A. Thus, the transmit beam 11B is received and is not obscured, while the transmit beam 11A is obscured by the user's body. The right part of fig. 2 depicts a situation in which the user turns 180 degrees in the situation shown in the left part of fig. 2. In the case shown in the right part of fig. 2, the user points the terminal apparatus 200 toward the base station 100A and faces his or her back toward the base station 100B. Thus, the transmit beam 11A is received and is not obscured, while the transmit beam 11B is obscured by the user's body. In this way, the shielding state of the transmission beam 11 is changed only by the user's turning without shifting. As a result, the communication quality changes.

In the case where the user changes the manner of holding the terminal apparatus 200, the shielding state of the transmission beam 11 can be similarly changed. For example, in the case of changing the manner of holding the terminal apparatus 200 from covering the antenna module to holding a portion distant from the antenna module, the shielding state of the transmission beam 11 is changed. As a result, the communication quality changes.

In this way, the communication quality changes according to the shielding state of the transmission beam 11. Therefore, it is difficult to eliminate the influence of the shadowing by the shadowing object and to achieve accurate measurement only by switching the antenna module to be used or switching the transmission beam 11.

Although a transmit beam has been described above, a similar situation applies to a receive beam. In either case of the transmission beam measurement and the reception beam measurement, it is desirable to realize a measurement that eliminates the influence of the shadowing by the shadowing object as described above, and to select the optimal beam.

Therefore, according to the proposed technology, the terminal device 200 changes the direction of the terminal device 200 while fixing the shielding state of the antenna module by the shield, and realizes measurement according to the change of the direction of the terminal device 200. For example, the terminal apparatus 200 instructs the user to turn around at the same point while fixing the shielding state of the terminal apparatus 200 by the user (for example, a manner of holding the terminal apparatus 200 by hand, a positional relationship between the body and the terminal apparatus 200, or the like). At this time, the terminal apparatus 200 changes the direction of the terminal apparatus 200 while fixing the state in which the antenna module is not shielded by the shield. Then, the terminal apparatus 200 measures the communication quality by performing reception beam scanning each time the direction of the terminal apparatus 200 changes with the steering of the user. In this way, the terminal apparatus 200 can measure the communication quality of the transmission beam coming in each direction and the reception beam traveling in each direction in a state where the influence of the shielding object is eliminated.

Further, according to the proposed technique, the terminal device 200 compares the communication quality in the respective directions in a state where the influence of the shielding object is eliminated, and instructs the user to set the terminal device 200 in the direction in which the best communication quality is obtained. By setting the terminal apparatus 200 in the direction in which the best communication quality is obtained according to the instruction, the user can establish communication with the best communication quality of the terminal apparatus 200 at the current position.

Further, according to the proposed technology, the terminal device 200 can compare the communication quality at the respective locations and instruct the user to adopt a combination of the location and the direction in which the best communication quality is obtained. By moving and setting the terminal apparatus 200 to the direction corresponding to the instruction, the user can establish communication with the best communication quality of the terminal apparatus 200 in the vicinity of the current position. Further, according to the proposed technology, the terminal apparatus 200 can compare the communication quality of the respective positions and instruct the user to adopt a combination of a position and a direction in which the best communication quality is obtained and a manner of holding the terminal apparatus 200 by hand.

<2, configuration example >

<2.1, functional configuration example >

An example of the configuration of the terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment will be described later with reference to fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment. Referring to fig. 3, the terminal device 200 includes an antenna module 210, a wireless communication unit 220, a sensor unit 230, an output unit 240, a storage unit 250, and a control unit 260.

-an antenna module 210

Each antenna module 210 transmits a signal output from the wireless communication unit 220 as a radio wave into a space. Further, each antenna module 210 converts radio waves existing in the space into a signal and outputs the signal to the wireless communication unit 220.

Each antenna module 210 constitutes an array antenna having a plurality of antenna elements (e.g., a plurality of antenna elements constituting a MIMO antenna). In addition to the antenna elements, each antenna module may include an antenna switch that switches the connection destination of each antenna element between a plurality of circuits (for example, circuits for different wireless communication systems, or a transmission circuit or a reception circuit) included in the wireless communication unit 220. Also, each antenna module 210 may include various devices accompanying the antenna elements.

A wireless communication unit 220

The wireless communication unit 220 transmits and receives signals. For example, the wireless communication unit 220 receives a downlink signal from a base station and transmits an uplink signal to the base station.

A sensor unit 230

The sensor unit 230 detects various types of information associated with the terminal device 200.

The sensor unit 230 has a function as a posture information acquisition unit that acquires posture information associated with the terminal device 200. For example, the posture information acquisition unit calculates and acquires the posture information representing the posture of the terminal device 200 based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor, the angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor, and the geomagnetism detected by the magnetic field sensor.

The sensor unit 230 has a function as a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information associated with the terminal apparatus 200. For example, the position information acquisition unit receives a GNSS signal (for example, a GPS signal from a GPS (global positioning system) satellite) from a GNSS (global navigation satellite system) satellite, detects position information constituted by the longitude and latitude of the device, and outputs the detected position information. Note that the position information acquisition unit may detect the position information using any other technique. For example, the position information acquisition unit may detect the position information by transmission and reception with Wi-Fi (registered trademark), a cellular phone, PHS, a smart phone, or the like, or detect the position information by near field communication or the like. Further, the location information associated with the terminal device 200 may include the height of the terminal device 200. For example, the height of the terminal device 200 is acquired based on the atmospheric pressure detected by the atmospheric pressure sensor. Therefore, the position information is a concept including not only the position in the horizontal direction but also the position in the height direction.

Output unit 240

The output unit 240 outputs information to the user. For example, the output unit 240 includes a display device such as a display, a light emitting device such as an LED (light emitting diode), a sound output device such as a speaker, or a vibration device such as an eccentric motor. Further, the output unit 240 outputs an image (still image or moving image), light, sound, or vibration.

-a memory unit 250

The storage unit 250 temporarily or permanently stores programs and various types of data for the operation of the terminal apparatus 200.

A control unit 260

The control unit 260 functions as an arithmetic processor and a controller, and controls the overall operation within the terminal device 200 under various programs. The control unit 260 is implemented in the form of an electronic circuit such as a CPU (central processing unit) and a microprocessor, for example. Note that the control unit 260 may include a ROM (read only memory) that stores programs to be used, calculation parameters, and the like, and a RAM (random access memory) that temporarily stores parameters and the like that are variable as appropriate.

The control unit 260 includes a measurement control unit 261 and a user support unit 263. The measurement control unit 261 has a function for controlling the overall processing associated with the measurement of the communication quality of the downlink communication accompanying the reception beam sweep. The user support unit 263 has a function for controlling processing for communication quality improvement based on the measurement result obtained by the measurement control unit 261. The details of the operation of these constituent elements will be described below.

Note that the control unit 260 may further include constituent elements other than the above-described constituent elements. Accordingly, the control unit 260 may perform operations other than the operations of the above-described constituent elements. For example, the control unit 260 causes the wireless communication unit 220 to transmit and receive information to and from other devices, causes the sensor unit 230 to detect the information, and causes the output unit 240 to output the information.

<2.2, arrangement of antenna Module >

The receivable direction is defined according to the arrangement of the antenna elements for each antenna module 210. In other words, a formable reception beam direction is defined for each antenna module 210.

The terminal device 200 has one or more antenna modules 210. Thus, the terminal device 200 has one or more receivable directions. It is preferable to arrange a plurality of antenna modules 210 at different positions and in different directions in the terminal device 200 in order to receive radio waves arriving in a large number of different directions. An example of the arrangement of the antenna module 210 in the terminal apparatus 200 will be described with reference to fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the antenna module 210 in the terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 4, it is assumed that the display plane of the display 241 of the terminal device 200 corresponds to the XY plane, the long side direction of the display 241 corresponds to the Y axis, and the short side direction of the display 241 corresponds to the X axis. Further assume that an axis perpendicular to the display 241 corresponds to the Z-axis, that a front surface side (i.e., front side) of the display 241 corresponds to a positive direction of the Z-axis, and that a back surface side (i.e., back side) of the display 241 corresponds to a negative direction of the Z-axis. The different postures of the terminal device 200 are shown in the left and right parts of fig. 4. In the left part of fig. 4, the positive X-axis direction is east, the positive Y-axis direction is north, and the negative Z-axis direction is vertical. In the right part of fig. 4, the positive X-axis direction faces east, the negative Y-axis direction faces vertical, and the positive Z-axis direction faces south.

According to the example depicted in fig. 4, six antenna modules 210(210A to 210F) are provided at different positions of the terminal device 200. Each of the six antenna modules 210 is capable of forming three receive beams 12 in a different direction for each beam and has a receivable direction 13 in a different direction (i.e., orientation) for each antenna module. The receivable direction 13 of each antenna module 210 is the direction covered by the plurality of formable reception beams.

Specifically, as shown in the left part of fig. 4, the antenna module 210A is disposed at the end of the terminal device 200 in the positive Y-axis direction. Further, the antenna module 210A can form three reception beams 12A in different directions for each beam on the XY plane on the Y-axis positive side. The receivable direction 13A of the antenna module 210A is the direction covered by the reception beam 12A and has a width extending from east to west around the north direction in the example shown in fig. 4. The antenna module 210B is provided at an end of the terminal device 200 in the positive X-axis direction, and is capable of forming three reception beams 12B in different directions for each beam on the XY plane on the positive X-axis side. The receivable direction 13B of the antenna module 210B has a width extending from south to north around the east direction. The antenna module 210C is provided at an end of the terminal device 200 in the Y-axis negative direction, and is capable of forming three reception beams 12C in different directions for each beam on the XY plane on the Y-axis negative side. The receivable direction 13C of the antenna module 210C has a width extending from east to west around the south direction. The antenna module 210D is provided at an end of the terminal device 200 in the X-axis negative direction, and is capable of forming three reception beams 12D in different directions for each beam on the XY plane on the X-axis negative side. The receivable direction 13D of the antenna module 210D has a width extending from north to south around the west direction.

As shown in the right part of fig. 4, the antenna module 210E is provided at the end of the terminal device 200 in the positive Y-axis direction, and is capable of forming three reception beams 12E in different directions for each beam on the XZ plane on the negative Z-axis side. The receivable direction 13E of the antenna module 210E has a width extending from east to west around the north direction. The antenna module 210F is provided at an end of the terminal device 200 in the Y-axis negative direction, and is capable of forming three reception beams 12F in different directions for each beam on the XY plane on the Z-axis positive side. The receivable direction 13F of the antenna module 210F has a width extending from east to west around the south direction.

In the case of a smartphone, it is assumed that the beam can be formed in six planar directions (positive and negative directions on respective axes), as described with reference to fig. 4. Typically, the terminal apparatus 200 measures the downlink measurement signal while switching a total of 18 beams (i.e., the reception beams 12A to 12F), and selects the combination of the antenna module 210 and the reception beam 12 that yields the best communication quality.

In this specification, the operation of setting the receivable direction 13 of the antenna module 210 to a predetermined direction means an operation of setting the center direction of the receivable direction 13 of the antenna module 210 to the predetermined direction.

<3, technical characteristics >, and

<3.1, band >

According to the present embodiment, the frequency bands are classified into the first frequency band and the second frequency band.

The first frequency band is a frequency band higher than a predetermined frequency. The second frequency band is a frequency band lower than the predetermined frequency. For example, the predetermined frequency may be 6 GHz. In other words, the first frequency band may be a frequency band higher than 6GHz, and the second frequency band may be a frequency band lower than 6 GHz.

In different examples, the first frequency band may be a millimeter wave frequency band and the second frequency band may be a microwave frequency band. Note that the millimeter wave band is a band from 30 to 300GHz, and the microwave band is a band from 300MHz to 30 GHz. In another different example, the first frequency band may be 26GHz (n258), 28GHz (n257, n261), 39 GHz (n260) and Sub6(n77-79), and the second frequency band may be UHF (ultra high frequency). Note that UHF is a frequency band from 300MHz to 3 GHz. In yet a different example, the first frequency band may be SHF (ultra high frequency) and EHF (extremely high frequency), and the second frequency band may be UHF. Note that SHF is a frequency band from 3 to 30GHz, and EHF is a frequency band from 30 to 300 GHz.

The terminal device 200 measures the communication quality in the first frequency band, and uses the first frequency band for communication based on the measurement result.

<3.2, measurement processing >

On/off of the antenna module 210

The terminal device 200 (for example, the measurement control unit 261) performs measurement in the on state of the antenna module 210 for measurement and in the off state of the antenna module 210 not for measurement. Therefore, the terminal apparatus 200 performs reception beam scanning using only the antenna module 210 for measurement. One or more of the antenna modules 210 may be used for measurements.

The terminal device 200 measures the communication quality in the first frequency band. For this measurement, for example, the terminal device 200 selects the antenna module 210 that communicates using the first frequency band as the antenna module 210 for measurement. In a case where one antenna module 210 is allowed to use both the first frequency band and the second frequency band, the terminal device 200 measures the communication quality in the first frequency band by putting the corresponding antenna module 210 in an on state.

Note that, unless otherwise specified, the following description will be given based on the assumption that the antenna module 210A is an antenna module for measurement.

Overview of the measurement processing

The terminal device 200 (for example, the measurement control unit 261) controls the first processing and the second processing to measure the communication quality in a state where the influence of the shield is eliminated. The first process includes a process for realizing a posture change of the terminal device 200. The second process includes measurements accompanying the receive beam scan.

-a first treatment

The first processing is processing of changing the receivable direction 13 of the antenna module 210 for measurement while fixing the shielding state of the antenna module 210 by the shielding object. Changing the receivable direction 13 of the antenna module 210 for measurement is equivalent to changing the direction (i.e., posture) of the terminal device 200. Preferably, the change of the receivable direction 13 of the antenna module 210 is made in a discrete manner, such as every 30 degrees of 360 degrees in the horizontal direction. This approach attempts to reduce the load generated by the change. Further, the change of the receivable direction 13 of the antenna module 210 may be a change of 180 degrees in the vertical direction and a change of 360 degrees in the horizontal direction.

In the following description, the receivable direction 13 of the antenna module 210 for measurement will also be referred to as measurable direction. The measurable direction changes according to the posture of the terminal apparatus 200 and the arrangement of the antenna module 210 in the terminal apparatus 200. Accordingly, the terminal apparatus 200 recognizes the measurable direction based on the arrangement of the antenna module 210 for measurement and the posture information associated with the terminal apparatus 200.

The shielding state of the antenna module 210 by the shielding object is also considered as a relative positional relationship between the shielding object and the antenna module 210. For example, the cover is a body of the user of the terminal device 200. The shielding state of the antenna module 210 by the shielding object is defined by, for example, holding the terminal device 200 by hand. In a case where the terminal device 200 is held in a state in which the portion where the antenna module 210 is provided is covered with a hand, the corresponding antenna module 210 is shielded by the hand of the user. In a different example, the shelter-generated shelter state of the antenna module 210 is defined by a positional relationship between the user's body and the antenna module 210. In the case where the user's body is located in a measurable direction of the antenna module 210, the antenna module 210 is obscured by the user's body.

The terminal device 200 performs processing for changing the measurable direction while fixing the state where the shade is not in the measurable direction. In one example, the state where the shade is not in the measurable direction is a state where a portion including the antenna module 210 for measurement is not covered by the hand is held. In another example, the state where the covering is not in the measurable direction is a state where the user's body is not in the measurable direction. Specifically, in the case where the antenna module 210A is used for measurement, the state where the shield is not in the measurable direction is a state where the end of the terminal device 200 in the Y-axis negative direction is held in front of the user's body and the XY plane of the terminal device 200 is aligned with the horizontal plane. This process enables measurement of communication quality in any direction in a state where the mask is not in a measurable direction in the second process.

More specifically, the terminal device 200 outputs first instruction information for instructing the user to change the measurable direction while fixing the shielding state of the antenna module 210 for measurement from the output unit 240. For example, the first instruction information includes information for giving an instruction to hold the manner of the terminal apparatus 200, and information for giving an instruction to change the measurable direction while fixing the manner of holding, that is, an instruction to change the direction of the terminal apparatus 200. The user changes the measurable direction while fixing the shielding state of the antenna module 210 for measurement with reference to the first instruction information. For example, the user rotates the terminal device 200 in front of the user's body without changing the position of the terminal device 200 while holding the end of the terminal device 200 in the Y-axis negative direction and aligning the XY plane of the terminal device 200 with the horizontal plane. This rotational action changes the measurable direction. The first instruction information allows the user to effectively change the measurable direction. An example of the first instruction information will be described with reference to fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of the first instruction information displayed by the terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment. The measurement screen 40(40A and 40B) shown in fig. 5 is presented as an example of the first instruction information. Each measurement screen 40 is a screen for supporting measurement, and is displayed by the output unit 240 of the terminal device 200.

As shown in fig. 5, the measurement screen 40A includes a UI (user interface) element 41, and the UI element 41 represents a complete view of the terminal apparatus 200 viewed in the Z-axis negative direction from the Z-axis positive side. Further, the measurement screen 40A includes a UI element 42, and the UI element 42 is information representing the arrangement of the antenna module 210 in the terminal apparatus 200. The UI element 42 is superimposed on the UI element 41, and represents the position of the antenna module 210A in the full view of the terminal apparatus 200 as viewed from the Z-axis front side. The measurement screen 40A may further include UI elements representing the arrangement of the antenna modules 210B to 210F shown in fig. 4. The UI element 42 allows the user to recognize the arrangement of the antenna module 210 which is not visible from the outside.

The measurement screen 40A includes a UI element 43, and the UI element 43 is information indicating the antenna module 210A used for measurement. The antenna module 210A for measurement should be prevented from being shielded by a shield. Thus, UI element 43 includes text describing that antenna module 210A, represented by UI element 42, should be avoided from being obscured by an obscuration. The UI element 43 allows the user to easily recognize that the shielding of the antenna module 210A should be avoided. In this way, a measurement that eliminates the influence of the user's body can be achieved. In addition, for example, in the case where the terminal device 200 is constituted by a plurality of openable and closable cases, the measurement screen 40A may include information for giving an instruction of an opened or closed state to be maintained during measurement. In this way, a measurement can be achieved that eliminates the influence of the housing. The UI elements 41 to 43 are presented as examples of information for giving an instruction of a manner of holding the terminal apparatus 200.

The measurement screen 40A includes UI elements 44 to 47, each of the UI elements 44 to 47 constituting information associated with a measurable direction. The UI elements 44 to 47 are presented as examples of information for giving an instruction of the direction change of the terminal apparatus 200. The UI element 44 is information representing a measurable direction. The direction of the acute angle of the triangle inside the circle represents the measurable direction. The UI element 45 is an icon representing a measurable direction. The UI element 45 is disposed in the direction of the acute angle of the triangle inside the circle of the UI element 44. When the user performs a rotational motion, the triangle inside the circle of the UI element 44 rotates by an amount equal to the amount of rotation of the rotational motion. According to this rotation, the UI element 45 is displaced to a position in front of the acute angle of the triangle. The UI element 46 indicates a north direction with "N". The UI element 47 is information indicating a direction in which the measurable direction should be oriented. The direction in which the measurable direction should be oriented is a direction in which the measurable direction has not been set for measurement in the measurement target direction, wherein the measurement target direction is the direction (i.e., orientation) in which the measurable direction is to be set for measurement. In the case where the UI element 47 is located in the direction in which the UI element 44 faces, that is, in the case of alignment between the UI element 45 and the UI element 47, this state corresponds to a state in which the measurable direction is set in the unmeasured measurement target direction.

The measurement screen 40A may display a UI element 48, the UI element 48 representing throughput in the case where communication is established during measurement.

The user continues the rotating motion with reference to the measurement screen 40A until the measurable direction becomes the unmeasured measurement target direction. The measurement screen 40B is a screen in a state where the measurable direction becomes the unmeasured measurement target direction. The measurement screen 40B includes UI elements similar to the measurement screen 40A. However, in the measurement screen 40B, the UI element 47 is located in the direction in which the UI element 44 faces, and the UI element 45 and the UI element 47 are aligned with each other. Therefore, the measurable direction is set as the unmeasured measurement target direction.

In the example shown in fig. 4, although the measurable direction is represented by the direction of the acute angle of a triangle inside the circle of the UI element 44, the mode for expressing the measurable direction is not limited to this example. For example, a diamond shape may be disposed within a circle instead of a triangle shape, so that the direction of an acute angle of the diamond shape on one end side in the longitudinal direction is used to represent a measurable direction. In a more simplified form, a UI element such as a compass may be used, with the north pole direction of the compass being used to represent the measurable direction. In this case, the effect of the visibility of the functionality (affordance) can be expected.

In addition, the UI element 46 is a selectable element and need not be displayed.

Further, the measurement screen 40A may further include a UI element representing the body of the user as another example of information for giving an instruction of a manner of holding the terminal apparatus 200. For example, a UI element indicating the position of the user's body is disposed below the UI element 41, i.e., on the side opposite to the UI element 42, and indicates that the user's body should be located on the side opposite to the antenna module 210A indicated by the UI element 42. In this way, the user can hold the terminal device 200 without the antenna module 210A being hidden by the user's body.

Further, the measurement screen 40A may further include a UI element indicating a position to be held by the hand of the user as another example of information for giving an instruction of a manner of holding the terminal apparatus 200. For example, the UI element indicating the position to be held by the hand of the user is disposed below the UI element 41, i.e., on the side opposite to the UI element 42, indicating that the user should hold the end of the terminal apparatus 200 with the hand on the side opposite to the antenna module 210A indicated by the UI element 42. In this way, the user can hold the terminal apparatus 200 without the antenna module 210A being hidden by the user's hand.

In addition, the first instruction information may be output as a bright color or a blinking pattern output from the light emitting device, a vibration pattern output from the vibration device, or the like, and display of the measurement screen 40. Further, the measurement screen 40 shown in fig. 5 may be output from an external display device connected to the terminal apparatus 200 in a wired or wireless manner.

-a second treatment

The second process is a process for measuring the downlink communication quality according to the change in the measurable direction. Specifically, when the measurable direction is changed by the first process, the terminal device 200 performs reception beam scanning and measures the communication quality of each reception beam.

The terminal device 200 performs reception beam scanning in a state where the measurable direction is set as the unmeasured measurement target direction, and measures the communication quality of each reception beam in the measurable direction. At this time, the terminal device 200 measures the communication quality in the first frequency band using the antenna module 210 in the on state.

For example, the measured communication quality is RSRP (reference signal received power), RSRQ (reference signal received quality), RSSI (received signal strength indication), S/N, CSI (channel state information), CQI (channel quality indication), or the like.

The terminal apparatus 200 may measure an SSB (SS (synchronization signal)/PBCH (physical broadcast channel) block as a target. Note that the SSB is a block composed of PSS (primary synchronization signal), SSS (secondary synchronization signal), and PBCH. The base station 100 performs transmission beam scanning using beams different for each SSB. The SSB may be specified by TCI status (transmission configuration indication status) or SRS-SpatialRelationInfo (sounding reference signal-SpatialRelationInfo).

The terminal apparatus 200 can measure a CSI-RS (channel state information reference signal) as a target. Note that the CSI-RS is a measurement signal for a transmission beam or a reception beam of the terminal apparatus 200.

The measurement period may be set according to SSB-periodicityServingCell (transmission interval of SSB set) or a periodic or semi-persistent CSI-RS transmission cycle. Note that the measurement period may be set according to a subcarrier interval or a frequency band. For example, as the subcarrier spacing becomes longer, the measurement period of each antenna module 210 may be made shorter. Also, as the frequency band becomes higher, the measurement period of each antenna module 210 can be made shorter.

The terminal device 200 stores a combination of information indicating a measurement result (hereinafter, measurement result information) and information indicating a measurement environment (hereinafter, measurement environment information) in a storage unit. The storage unit here may be the storage unit 250 of the terminal apparatus 200, or may be a storage unit equipped in an external apparatus such as a server on the cloud.

The measurement result information includes information indicating the communication quality of each reception beam obtained as a result of the reception beam scanning. For example, the measurement result information includes information representing identification information associated with the reception beams and information representing communication quality of the corresponding reception beams associated with each other for each reception beam. Further, the measurement result information includes information indicating a measurable direction during measurement. Specifically, the measurement result information includes a combination of information representing a measurable direction during measurement and information representing communication quality for each reception beam. Based on the measurement result information, it is possible to determine in which direction the antenna module 210 is to be disposed to obtain appropriate communication quality, i.e., to select a reception beam that produces the best (or stable) communication quality.

The measurement environment information may include location information associated with the terminal device 200 at the time of measurement. With reference to this information, it is possible to determine in which position and direction the antenna module 210 is to be disposed to obtain appropriate communication quality.

The measurement environment information may include configuration information associated with the terminal device 200. The configuration information associated with the terminal device 200 may include a product model number and serial number of the terminal device 200, a model number of the antenna module 210, an IMEI (international mobile equipment identity) and a MAC address. Note that the measurement environment information may include only IMEI, MAC address, and sequence number. Other items of configuration information may be identified based on the IMEI, MAC address and serial number and with reference to the database. Further, the model of the antenna module 210 may be identified based on information representing the product model of the terminal device 200 and the arrangement of the antenna module 210. For example, the arrangement of the antenna modules 210 may be identified based on at least identification information associated with a receive beam or identification information associated with a transmit beam used for data communication. Further, the configuration information associated with the terminal device 200 may include information indicating the type of the terminal device 200. For example, the type of the terminal apparatus 200 may be a device type such as "mobile device", "fixed device", "smartphone", and "drone", or a use case type such as "high-speed movement" and "low-speed movement". The type of the terminal device 200 may be identified based on configuration information associated with the terminal device 200, such as a product model number and a serial number. With reference to the configuration information of the terminal device 200, it is allowed to use measurement results obtained from a different terminal device 200 having the same or similar configuration information as that of the terminal device 200 in the user support process described below.

The measurement environment information may include identification information associated with the antenna module 210 for measurement. With reference to this information, it can be determined in which direction the antenna module 210 is to be disposed to obtain appropriate communication quality.

Details of the measurement process combining the first process and the second process

The terminal device 200 alternately performs the first process and the second process. Specifically, the terminal apparatus 200 performs measurement each time the measurable direction changes. In this way, when the measurable direction is set in each measurement target direction, the combination of the measurement result information and the measurement environment information is accumulated.

The terminal device 200 can appropriately output information indicating the progress of the measurement. An example of information representing the progress of measurement will be described with reference to fig. 6.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement result display screen displayed in the terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment. The measurement result display screen 50 shown in fig. 6 is an example of information indicating the progress of measurement. As shown in fig. 6, the measurement result display screen 50 includes a UI element 51, and the UI element 51 represents a complete view when the terminal apparatus 200 is viewed from the Z-axis front side. Further, the measurement result display screen 50 includes UI elements 52 each representing a measurement target direction and UI elements 53 each representing a measurement result. The plurality of UI elements 52 are radially arranged around the terminal device 200. The direction of each radiation represents a measurement target direction. Each UI element 53 is composed of 0 to 4 bars, each bar representing a communication quality level. The larger the number of bars, the higher the communication quality. A UI element 53 representing the measurement result is superimposed on the UI element 52, the UI element 52 corresponding to the measured measurement target direction in which the measurement has been completed. Specifically, the UI element 52 on which the UI element 53 is superimposed represents a measured measurement target direction, and the UI element 52 on which the UI element 53 is not superimposed represents an unmeasured measurement target direction. Note that a dead point may be displayed to represent a measurement target direction in which the communication quality (radio wave intensity) required for communication as a measurement result is not obtained. The user can easily recognize the communication quality in each direction with reference to the measurement result display screen 50, and can also easily recognize the measurement target direction that has been measured or has not been measured.

-process flow

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the measurement process performed by the terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 7, the terminal device 200 initially displays information indicating the arrangement of the antenna module 210 for measurement (step S102). For example, the terminal apparatus 200 displays the

UI elements

41 and 42 in the measurement screen 40 described with reference to fig. 5. Subsequently, the terminal device 200 turns off the antenna module 210 not used for measurement, and turns on the antenna module 210 used for measurement (step S104). For example, the terminal device 200 turns on only the antenna module 210A, and turns off the other antenna modules 210. Subsequently, the terminal device 200 determines whether or not there is an unmeasured measurement target direction (step S106).

In the case where there are unmeasured measurement target directions (yes in step S106), the terminal apparatus 200 selects one of the unmeasured measurement target directions as a direction to which the measurable direction is to be set, and displays information indicating the direction to which the measurable direction is to be set (step S108). For example, the terminal apparatus 200 displays the UI element 47 in the measurement screen 40 described with reference to fig. 5. Subsequently, the terminal device 200 displays the change of the measurable direction according to the sequence of the rotational motion of the user (step S110). Then, when the measurable direction is set in the direction to which the measurable direction is to be set, the terminal apparatus 200 starts measurement (step S112). Next, the terminal device 200 stores the combination of the measurement result information and the measurement environment information in the storage unit (step S114). Thereafter, the process returns to step S106 again.

In the case where it is determined in step S106 that there is no unmeasured measurement target direction (step S106: NO), the process ends.

-supplementary notes

Note that the above example is a case where the antenna module for measurement is one antenna module 210A. However, the present technology is not limited to this example, and multiple antenna modules 210 may be used for the measurement. In this case, the measurement is performed in a state where a plurality of antenna modules 210 are turned on, or the measurement is performed while switching the antenna modules 210 in the turned-on state one by one.

<3.3, user support processing >

The terminal device 200 (e.g., the user support unit 263) identifies the direction to which the receivable direction 13 of the antenna module 210 used in data communication is to be set, based on the information stored in the storage unit. The information stored in the storage unit is a combination of measurement result information and measurement environment information. Note that in the case where a plurality of pieces of measurement result information associated with the same measurement environment information (e.g., position) are stored, the measurement result information may be subjected to statistical processing such as a weighted average that increases in weight as the average or the closest data is approached. In addition, the user support process may be performed based on the measurement result information obtained by the statistical process.

In the following description, the receivable direction 13 of the antenna module 210 used in data communication will also be referred to as a data communication possible direction. The data communication direction may be changed according to the posture of the terminal apparatus 200 and the arrangement of the antenna module 210 in the terminal apparatus 200. Accordingly, the terminal apparatus 200 recognizes the data-communicable direction based on the arrangement of the antenna module 210 for communication and the posture information associated with the terminal apparatus 200.

The direction in which the data communication possible direction will be set is also referred to as a target direction hereinafter.

The target direction may be a direction of a preferred communication quality indicated by the measurement result. For example, the terminal apparatus 200 selects, for each measurable direction, a combination of a measurable direction and a reception beam that produces the best communication quality among the communication qualities of the respective reception beams, and identifies the measurable direction of the selected combination as the target direction. By setting the data communication possible direction as the target direction, data communication using the reception beam having the best communication quality can be achieved. Therefore, the terminal device 200 is allowed to communicate with the best communication quality.

The target direction may be a direction in which the communication quality variation indicated by the measurement result is small. For example, the terminal apparatus 200 selects, for each measurable direction, a combination of a measurable direction and a reception beam that produces communication quality with the smallest variation among the communication qualities of the respective reception beams, and identifies the measurable direction of the selected combination as the target direction. Note that the change in communication quality is a change in communication quality over time, and may be caused by the influence of a shield such as an automobile, a person, or the like passing between the base station 100 and the terminal device 200. By setting the data communication enabled direction to the target direction, data communication using a reception beam that generates the communication quality with the least variation can be realized. Therefore, the terminal device 200 is allowed to communicate with the most stable communication quality.

The terminal device 200 causes the output unit 240 to output second instruction information including information indicating the target direction. More specifically, the second instruction information includes information for instructing the user to change the data-communicable direction and set the data-communicable direction in the target direction. The user continues the rotating action until the data communicable direction is changed to the target direction with reference to the second instruction information. With reference to the second instruction information, the data communication possible direction can be easily set in the target direction. Note that the terminal apparatus 200 selects a reception beam that yields the best communication quality or the communication quality with the least variation as indicated by the measurement result information, and establishes data communication using the selected reception beam when setting the data communication possible direction as the target direction. Further, the terminal device 200 establishes data communication using a transmission beam corresponding to the selected reception beam (for example, a beam having the same pattern as that of the selected reception beam). In this way, data communication can be realized in an environment in which an optimum communication quality or a communication quality with minimum variation is obtained.

For example, in the case where data communication is established using the first frequency band, the second instruction information is output. For example, data communication using the first frequency band may be implemented in applications requiring high throughput. An example of the second instruction information will be described with reference to fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of the second instruction information displayed by the terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment. Fig. 8 shows a state in which the terminal apparatus 200 executes a video viewing application while being held on the side by the user. The video viewing screen 60A includes a UI element 61 representing throughput and a UI element 62 instructing the user to change the data-communicable direction. The

respective UI elements

61 and 62 are superimposed on the video. The UI element 62 corresponds to the second instruction information. The UI element 62 includes a right arrow ">" in the case where a right rotation action is instructed, and includes a left arrow "<" in the case where a left rotation action is instructed. The number of arrows indicates the amount of rotation required to reach the target direction. The video viewing screen 60B is a screen including UI elements similar to those in the video viewing screen 60A, and the video viewing screen 60B is displayed when the data communicable direction reaches the target direction as a result of a rightward rotation action by the user in accordance with the UI element 62. The UI element 62 in the video viewing screen 60B includes information "done" indicating that the direction has reached the target direction. Further, since the data communication direction has reached the target direction, the throughput represented by the UI element 61 is improved from 150Mbps to 1 Gbps.

Note that the second instruction information may be superimposed on a screen of, for example, an AR (augmented reality) or VR (virtual reality) application, instead of being superimposed on the video viewing application. Further, the second instruction information may be displayed as a single information, instead of being superimposed on the application screen. Further, the information for instructing the user to change the data-communicable direction may be represented by, for example, the color of the screen, instead of being represented by an arrow as represented by the UI element 62. For example, in the case of a rightward rotation motion instruction, the right end of the screen is displayed in red, and in the case of a leftward rotation motion instruction, the left end of the screen is displayed in red. The rotation amount required to reach the target direction may be displayed by the size of the red display area. Further, the throughput represented by the UI element 61 may be displayed only in a case where the data-communicable direction has reached the target direction.

The target direction here is identified based on measurement result information obtained for common measurement environment information. For example, the target direction is identified based on measurement result information obtained for a common location during measurement. In other words, a target direction is identified for each location.

The second instruction information may include information for giving an instruction to shift to a position (hereinafter also referred to as a target position) where the user is to be located at the time of data communication. In this case, the target direction of the second instruction information is a direction in which the data communicable direction is set at the target position. For example, the target position is a position included in a displaceable zone of the user, and has a target direction indicated by the measurement result as a direction to obtain an optimum communication quality or a communication quality with the least variation. The user's displaceable zone is located, for example, at a distance of several meters from the current position, and can be set as any area. The user shifts to the target position with reference to the second instruction information and then sets the data communication possible direction as the target direction. In this way, data communication of a communication quality more appropriate than that produced by a simple rotating action at the current position can be achieved. An example of the second instruction information including information for giving an instruction to shift to the target position will be described with reference to fig. 9.

Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of the second instruction information displayed by the terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment. Fig. 9 shows a state in which the second instruction information is superimposed on an image 70 captured as an image of a field of view in front of the eyes of the user under the image viewing application. The UI element 71 is information indicating a target position. The UI element 72 is information for instructing the user to move to a target position. Each of the

UI elements

71 and 72 corresponds to the second instruction information. The UI element 73 is information indicating a target direction at a target position. The UI element 74 is information representing the current throughput. The UI element 75 is information representing throughput obtained in the case where the data communication possible direction is set in the target direction at the target position.

Note that, in addition to the image viewing application, the second instruction information may be superimposed on a screen of the AR or VR application, for example. Further, the second instruction information may be displayed as a single information, instead of being superimposed on the application screen. Further, instead of displaying the target direction using the UI element 73, a display similar to the UI elements 44 to 47 shown in fig. 5 or the UI element 62 shown in fig. 8 may be presented. In addition, the throughput represented by the

UI elements

74 and 75 is displayed only in the case where both of shifting the user to the target position and setting the data communication possible direction in the target direction are achieved.

-supplementary notes

When the data communication possible direction is set as the target direction, the terminal apparatus 200 selects the reception beam that produces the best communication quality or the communication quality with the least variation as indicated by the measurement result information, and establishes data communication using the selected reception beam.

In addition, although the antenna module 210 for data communication and the antenna module 210 for measurement are generally constituted by the same antenna module, these antenna modules may be constituted by antenna modules different from each other. The terminal device 200 can switch the antenna module 210 to use the antenna module 210 for measurement also in data communication.

The second instruction information may include information for giving an instruction of a shielding state of the antenna module 210 for data communication. The information for giving an instruction of the shielding state of the antenna module 210 for data communication refers to information indicating that the user does not shield the antenna module 210 for data communication, such as information for giving an instruction of a manner of holding the terminal device 200. Note that the information for giving an instruction of a manner of holding the terminal apparatus 200 may be information representing the antenna module 210 for data communication in a manner similar to the UI elements 41 to 43 described with reference to fig. 5. In different examples, the information for giving an instruction of a manner of holding the terminal device 200 may include information for giving an instruction of a position of a body of the user and/or information for giving an instruction of a position to be held by a hand of the user. In this way, deterioration of communication quality due to shielding of the antenna module 210 during data communication can be avoided.

The second instruction information may also be generated based on information (i.e., a combination of measurement result information and measurement environment information) stored in the storage unit and obtained from measurement of a different terminal apparatus 200. Specifically, the target direction and the target position may be identified based on information obtained by measurement using a plurality of terminal apparatuses 200. For example, the measurement result obtained by the different terminal apparatus 200 is applied to the position and direction that are not measured by the terminal apparatus 200 itself to generate the second instruction information to be output from the terminal apparatus 200. Here, it is preferable that the different terminal apparatus 200 has the same or similar configuration information as that of the terminal apparatus 200. This is because, if the configuration information is different for each terminal apparatus 200, different measurement results are obtained even from the same measurement environment. The application of the above measurements allows for the identification of a more appropriate target direction and target position.

For example, machine learning, such as deep learning, may be used to enable identification of target directions and target locations. For example, when inputting a location, a model is generated by machine learning, which outputs the location and direction at which the best communication quality is obtained and throughput in the corresponding location and direction. By using this model, estimation of measurement results and use of the estimation results for user support can be achieved even for unmeasured positions and orientations.

The target direction may be recognized by an external device such as a server on the cloud. Further, the target direction may be identified in advance, and a combination of the target direction and the measurement environment information may be stored in the storage unit. For example, a 3D map containing a target direction for each position (each position in the horizontal direction and the height direction) may be created and provided to the terminal device 200. Further, it is preferable that the 3D map provided to the terminal device 200 is created based on a measurement result obtained by a different terminal device 200 having the same or similar configuration information as that of the terminal device 200.

<4, modification >, and

<4.1, first modification >

According to the above example, the terminal device 200 is a smartphone used by the user, and does not have a mechanism for changing the posture by itself. However, the present technology is not limited to this example. The terminal device 200 may be a device capable of autonomously changing a posture. Examples of this type of terminal device 200 include robots, drones, and autonomous cars.

In this case, the terminal device 200 may control the posture of the terminal device 200 instead of outputting the first instruction information to change the measurable direction. In this case, the terminal device 200 performs measurement while rotating autonomously.

Similarly, the terminal apparatus 200 may control the posture of the terminal apparatus 200 instead of outputting the second instruction information to change the data-communicable direction to the target direction. Further, the terminal device 200 may be shifted to a target position. In this way, appropriate communication quality can be autonomously obtained.

<4.2, second modification >

Although the example has been described on the assumption that the user is given an instruction of the rotation action under the display of the measurement screen for measurement, the present disclosure is not limited to this example. The measurement may be performed during execution of a general application. Specifically, the measurement process can be performed in the background without giving a rotation action instruction to the user. In this case, the terminal device 200 can perform the measurement without causing the user to consciously perform the rotation action.

Further, for the direction in which the measurement is not performed, the terminal device 200 stores, in the storage unit, a combination of information indicating that the measurement is not performed and measurement environment information. This is because an unmeasured direction may be left in the case of measurement in the background. Further, even in the case where the antenna module 210 for measurement performs measurement in the shielded state, the terminal device 200 stores information indicating that measurement has not been performed and measurement environment information in association with each other in the storage unit. This is necessary because the antenna module 210 for measurement may be obscured by the user in the case of measurement in the background. In addition, the measurement result information obtained by measurement under such a condition is error information from which the influence of the shielding by the shielding object is not eliminated.

< <5, hardware configuration example >

Finally, the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Note that the information processing apparatus 900 shown in fig. 10 may constitute the terminal apparatus 200 shown in fig. 3. The information processing performed by the terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment is realized by the cooperative operation of software and hardware described below.

As shown in fig. 10, the information processing apparatus 900 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 901, a ROM (read only memory) 902, a RAM (random access memory) 903, and a host bus 904 a. The information processing apparatus 900 further includes a bridge 904, an external bus 904b, an interface 905, an input device 906, an output device 907, a storage device 908, a drive 909, a connection port 911, and a communication device 913. The information processing apparatus 900 may include circuits and processing circuits such as a DSP and an ASIC instead of the CPU 901 or in addition to the CPU 901.

The CPU 901 functions as an arithmetic processor and a controller, and controls the overall operation within the information processing apparatus 900 under various types of programs. In addition, the CPU 901 may be a microprocessor. The ROM 902 stores programs, calculation parameters, and the like used by the CPU 901. The RAM 903 temporarily stores programs for execution by the CPU 901 and parameters and the like appropriately variable in the execution. For example, the CPU 901 may constitute the control unit 260 shown in fig. 3.

The CPU 901, the ROM 902, and the RAM 903 are connected to each other via a host bus 904a including a CPU bus and the like. The host bus 904a is connected to an external bus 904b such as a PCI (peripheral component interconnect/interface) bus via a bridge 904. Note that the host bus 904a, the bridge 904, and the external bus 904b are not necessarily configured separately, but functions thereof may be mounted on one bus.

For example, the input device 906 is implemented by a device that can input information from a user, such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, buttons, a microphone, switches, and a joystick. Further, for example, the input device 906 may be a remote control device using infrared light or other radio waves, or may be an external connection device operating in correspondence with the operation of the information processing apparatus 900, such as a cellular phone and a PDA. Further, for example, the input device 906 may include an input control circuit or the like that generates an input signal based on information input from a user using the above-described input device and outputs the generated input signal to the CPU 901. A user of the information processing apparatus 900 is allowed to input various types of data to the information processing apparatus 900, and an instruction of a processing operation is given to the information processing apparatus 900 by operating the input device 906.

Further, the input device 906 may be constituted by a device that detects information associated with a user. For example, the input device 906 may include various types of sensors, such as an image sensor (e.g., a camera), a depth sensor (e.g., a stereo camera), an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic field sensor, an optical sensor, a sound sensor, a distance measurement sensor, and a force sensor. Further, the input device 906 may acquire information associated with the state of the information processing apparatus 900 itself, such as the posture and the moving speed of the information processing apparatus 900, and information associated with the surrounding environment of the information processing apparatus 900, such as the brightness and noise around the information processing apparatus 900. Further, the input device 906 may include a GNSS (global navigation satellite system) module that receives GNSS signals from GNSS satellites (e.g., GPS signals from GPS (global positioning system) satellites) and measures location information including latitude, longitude, and altitude of the apparatus. In addition, with regard to the position information, the input device 906 may detect the position by transmission and reception with Wi-Fi (registered trademark), cellular phone, PHS, smart phone, or the like, or by near field communication or the like. For example, the input device 906 may constitute the sensor unit 230 shown in fig. 3.

The output device 907 is constituted by an apparatus capable of visually or audibly notifying the acquired information to the user. Examples of this type of device include display devices such as CRT display devices, liquid crystal display devices, plasma display devices, EL display devices, laser projectors, LED projectors, and lamps, audio output devices such as speakers and headphones, printer devices, and the like. For example, the output device 907 outputs results obtained by various processes performed by the information processing apparatus 900. Specifically, the display device visually displays results obtained by various processes performed by the information processing apparatus 900 in various forms such as text, images, tables, and graphics. On the other hand, the audio output device converts an audio signal composed of reproduced audio data, acoustic data, or the like into an analog signal, and outputs the analog signal aurally. For example, the output device 907 may constitute the output unit 240 shown in fig. 3.

The storage 908 is a device for data storage formed as an example of a storage unit of the information processing apparatus 900. The storage device 908 is implemented in the form of, for example, a magnetic storage device such as an HDD, a semiconductor storage device, an optical storage device, and a magneto-optical storage device. The storage 908 may include a storage medium, a recording apparatus that records data in the storage medium, a reading apparatus that reads data from the storage medium, a deleting apparatus that deletes data recorded in the storage medium, and the like. The storage device 908 stores programs executed by the CPU 901, various types of data acquired from the outside, and the like. For example, memory device 908 may constitute memory cell 250 shown in FIG. 3.

The drive 909 is a reader/writer for a storage medium, and is built in the information processing apparatus 900 or externally connected to the information processing apparatus 900. The drive 909 reads information recorded in an attached removable recording medium (such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a semiconductor memory) and outputs the read information to the RAM 903. Further, the drive 909 can write information to a removable recording medium.

The connection port 911 is an interface connected to an external device, and is an external port connected to an external device and configured to transmit data via, for example, a USB (universal serial bus) or the like.

The communication device 913 is a communication interface configured by a communication device or the like to connect to the network 920, for example. For example, the communication device 913 is a communication card for wired or wireless LAN (local area network), LTE (long term evolution), bluetooth (registered trademark), WUSB (wireless USB), or the like. Further, the communication device 913 is a router for optical communication, a router for ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line), a modem for various types of communication, or the like. For example, the communication device 913 can transmit and receive signals and the like between the communication device 913 and the internet or other communication devices according to a predetermined protocol such as TCP/IP. For example, the communication device 913 may constitute the antenna module 210 and the wireless communication unit 220 shown in fig. 3.

Note that the network 920 is a wired or wireless transmission path for information transmitted from a device connected to the network 920. For example, the network 920 may include a public network such as the internet, a telephone network and a satellite communication network, various types of LANs (local area networks) including ethernet (registered trademark), and a WAN (wide area network). Further, the network 920 may include a private network such as an IP-VPN (internet protocol-virtual private network).

The example of the hardware configuration capable of realizing the functions of the information processing apparatus 900 according to the present embodiment has been described above. The respective constituent elements described above may be realized using a general-purpose member, or may be realized by hardware dedicated to the functions of the respective constituent elements. Therefore, the hardware configuration allowed to be used is appropriately changed according to the technical level for practicing each case of the present embodiment.

Note that a computer program for executing the respective functions of the information processing apparatus 900 of the present embodiment described above is allowed to be generated and incorporated into a PC or the like. Further, it is permissible to provide a computer-readable recording medium storing the computer program. The recording medium is, for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a flash memory, or the like. Further, the above-described computer program may be distributed, for example, via a network instead of using a recording medium.

<6, summary >

The embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 10. As described above, the terminal device 200 according to the present embodiment includes one or more antenna modules 210. In addition, the terminal apparatus 200 controls a first process for changing a measurable direction while fixing a shielding state of the antenna module 210 for measurement by a shield, and a second process for measuring downlink quality according to the change of the measurable direction. More simply, while the shielding state of the antenna module 210 for measurement by the shielding object is fixed, the terminal apparatus 200 performs measurement each time the measurable direction changes. Because the shielding state is fixed, the measurement result is not affected by the presence or absence of shielding by the shielding object. Therefore, the terminal device 200 realizes the measurement while eliminating the influence of the shielding by the shielding object. Here, the terminal device 200 controls the first process and the second process while fixing the state where the shield is not in the measurable direction. In this way, accurate measurement can be achieved in a state where radio waves transmitted and received between the base station 100 and the terminal apparatus 200 are not shielded by a shield.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to this example. It is apparent that various modified examples and modified examples can be conceived by those skilled in the art of the present disclosure within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. Needless to say, it should be understood that such modifications and adaptations also fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

For example, although the embodiments have been described on the assumption that the proposed technique is applied to the first frequency range, the present technique is not limited to this example. For example, the proposed techniques may be applied to the second frequency band.

Further, the processes described with reference to the flowcharts and the sequence diagrams in this specification do not necessarily need to be performed in the order shown in the drawings. Several processing steps may be performed in parallel. Moreover, additional processing steps may be employed, and a portion of the processing steps may be omitted.

Further, it may be allowed to create a computer program (i.e., a computer program for causing a processor to execute operations of constituent elements of the aforementioned means) for causing a processor (e.g., CPU, DSP and BB (baseband) processor) included in the apparatus (e.g., base station apparatus or module for base station apparatus, or terminal device or module for terminal device) of the present specification to function as a constituent element of the aforementioned means (e.g., measurement control unit 261 and/or user support unit 263). Further, a recording medium on which the above-described computer program is recorded may be provided. Furthermore, an apparatus may be provided comprising: a memory storing the computer program; and one or more processors (e.g., a base station apparatus or a module for a base station apparatus, or a terminal device or a module for a terminal device) capable of executing the computer program. In addition, a method of operation of constituent elements including the aforementioned device (e.g., the measurement control unit 261 and/or the user support unit 263) is included in the technique of the present disclosure.

Further, the advantageous effects described in the present specification are presented only for illustrative or exemplary purposes, and thus are not limited to these advantageous effects. Thus, the techniques of this disclosure may provide other benefits, in addition to or in lieu of those described above, that will be apparent to those of skill in the art in light of the description of this specification.

Note that the following configuration belongs to the technical scope of the present disclosure.

(1) A terminal device, comprising:

one or more antenna modules; and

a control unit that controls a process for changing a receivable direction of the antenna module while fixing a shielding state of the antenna module for measurement by a shield, and a process for measuring downlink communication quality according to the change of the receivable direction of the antenna module for measurement.

(2) The terminal device according to the above (1), wherein the control unit performs processing for changing a receivable direction of the antenna module for the measurement while fixing to a state where the shield is not located in the receivable direction of the antenna module for the measurement.

(3) The terminal device according to the above (2), wherein,

the covering is a body of a user of the terminal device, and

the control unit causes an output unit to output first instruction information for instructing the user to change a receivable direction of the antenna module while fixing a shielding state of the antenna module for the measurement.

(4) The terminal device according to the above (3), wherein the first instruction information includes information indicating an arrangement of the antenna module in the terminal device.

(5) The terminal device according to the above (3) or (4), wherein the first instruction information includes information indicating the antenna module used for the measurement.

(6) The terminal device according to any one of the above (3) to (5), wherein the first instruction information includes information indicating a receivable direction of the antenna module for the measurement.

(7) The terminal device according to any one of the above (3) to (6), wherein the first instruction information includes information indicating a direction toward which a receivable direction of the antenna module for the measurement should be directed.

(8) The terminal device according to any one of the above (1) to (7), wherein the control unit causes the storage unit to store a combination of information indicating a result of the measurement and information indicating a measurement environment.

(9) The terminal device according to the above (8), wherein the information indicating the result of the measurement includes information indicating communication quality for each reception beam and information indicating a receivable direction of the antenna module used for the measurement.

(10) The terminal device according to the above (8) or (9), wherein the information indicating the measurement environment includes at least any one of: the location information of the terminal device, the configuration information of the terminal device, and the identification information of the antenna module for the measurement when the measurement is performed.

(11) The terminal device according to any one of the above (8) to (10), wherein the control unit causes the storage unit to store a combination of information indicating a state in which the measurement is not performed and information indicating the measurement environment, for a direction in which the measurement is not performed.

(12) The terminal device according to any one of the above (8) to (11), wherein the control unit causes the output unit to output second instruction information including information that is generated based on the information stored in the storage unit and that indicates a direction toward which a receivable direction of the antenna module for data communication should be directed.

(13) The terminal device according to the above (12), wherein a direction toward which a receivable direction of the antenna module for the data communication should be directed is a direction in which communication quality indicated by the result of the measurement is good.

(14) The terminal device according to the above (12), wherein a direction toward which a receivable direction of the antenna module for the data communication should be directed is a direction in which communication quality with little variation is obtained, which is indicated by the result of the measurement.

(15) The terminal device according to any one of the above (12) to (14), wherein the second instruction information includes information for instructing a user to shift to a position where the user should be located when the data communication is performed.

(16) The terminal device according to any one of the above (12) to (15), wherein the second instruction information is generated based also on information obtained by the measurement by another terminal device stored in the storage unit.

(17) The terminal device according to any one of the above (1) to (16),

the terminal device includes a device capable of changing a posture, an

The control unit changes a receivable direction of the antenna module for the measurement by controlling a posture of the terminal device.

(18) The terminal device according to any one of the above (1) to (17), wherein the control unit measures communication quality of a frequency band higher than a predetermined frequency.

(19) The terminal device according to the above (18), wherein the predetermined frequency is 6 GHz.

(20) A method performed by a terminal device comprising one or more antenna modules, the method comprising:

controlling a process for changing a receivable direction of the antenna module while fixing a shielding state of the antenna module for measurement by a shield, and a process for measuring downlink communication quality according to the change of the receivable direction of the antenna module for measurement.

List of reference numerals

1: system for controlling a power supply

10: cell

11: transmitting beam

12: receive beam

13: direction measurable, data communication direction

20: core network

30：PDN

100: base station

200: terminal device

210: antenna module

220: wireless communication unit

230: sensor unit

240: output unit

250: memory cell

260: control unit

261: measurement control unit

263: user support unit

Claims

1. A terminal device, comprising:

one or more antenna modules; and

2. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs processing for changing a receivable direction of the antenna module for the measurement while fixing to a state in which the shield is not located in the receivable direction of the antenna module for the measurement.

3. The terminal device of claim 2,

the covering is a body of a user of the terminal device, and

4. The terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the first instruction information includes information indicating arrangement of the antenna module in the terminal device.

5. The terminal device of claim 3, wherein the first instruction information includes information indicative of the antenna module used for the measurement.

6. The terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the first instruction information includes information indicating a receivable direction of the antenna module for the measurement.

7. A terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the first instruction information includes information indicative of a direction towards which a receivable direction of the antenna module for the measurement should be directed.

8. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the storage unit to store a combination of information representing a result of the measurement and information representing a measurement environment.

9. The terminal device according to claim 8, wherein the information representing the result of the measurement includes information representing communication quality for each reception beam and information representing a receivable direction of the antenna module for the measurement.

10. The terminal device of claim 8, wherein the information representative of the measurement environment comprises at least any one of: the location information of the terminal device, the configuration information of the terminal device, and the identification information of the antenna module for the measurement when the measurement is performed.

11. The terminal device according to claim 8, wherein the control unit causes the storage unit to store a combination of information indicating a state in which the measurement is not performed and information indicating the measurement environment, for a direction in which the measurement is not performed.

12. The terminal device according to claim 8, wherein the control unit causes an output unit to output second instruction information including information that is generated based on the information stored in the storage unit and that indicates a direction toward which a receivable direction of the antenna module for data communication should be directed.

13. The terminal device according to claim 12, wherein a direction in which a receivable direction of the antenna module for the data communication should be directed is a direction in which communication quality indicated by the result of the measurement is good.

14. The terminal device according to claim 12, wherein a direction in which a receivable direction of the antenna module for the data communication should be directed is a direction in which communication quality with less variation is obtained, which is indicated by the result of the measurement.

15. The terminal device of claim 12, wherein the second instruction information includes information indicating that a user is shifted to a location where the user should be located when the data communication is conducted.

16. The terminal device according to claim 12, wherein the second instruction information is generated based also on information obtained by the measurement by the other terminal device stored in the storage unit.

17. The terminal device of claim 1,

the terminal device includes a device capable of changing a posture, an

18. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit measures communication quality of a frequency band higher than a predetermined frequency.

19. The terminal device of claim 18, wherein the predetermined frequency is 6 GHz.

20. A method performed by a terminal device comprising one or more antenna modules, the method comprising: